


Moving On

by TWDObsessive



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Aaron has both arms, Anal Sex, Canonical Character "Death", Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Moving On, letting go, saying goodbye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 08:38:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17864042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TWDObsessive/pseuds/TWDObsessive
Summary: Aaron and Daryl become intimate as Daryl learns how to let Rick go.





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to LOTR for the beta!
> 
> Just thought I'd write this for some closure in the current Canonverse. This does NOT mean that I'm done with Rick/Daryl. It's just an experimental fic.
> 
> REVISED: I seem to be getting some major hate in comments for this fic from die hard Rickyl fan who wants me to stop writing Rickyl. I'd be really sad if people stopped reading me because of this experimental fic. I was just trying something new. I wanted to delete this whole thing, but my friends talked me out of it. I guess this is just a warning that this is NOT Rickyl, so you may not want to read.

Daryl and Aaron sat on the porch of the Barrington House watching the blue sky fade into purples and pinks and breathing in fresh, crisp air while they had a moment of peace to enjoy it. As Daryl gazed at the horizon he let his mind wander as he often did. And like every other time, he ended up thinking of Rick. It had been six years since Rick died and a day hadn’t gone by that Daryl didn’t mourn for him. He felt the threat of tears sting his eyes at the thought of what could have been but never was.

So many times they held their gaze a beat too long. So many moments electricity sizzled between them. There was always something more about their relationship. And Daryl again wondered how much more there could have been.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Aaron asked.

Daryl shrugged, “Nothin’”. But it wasn’t nothing. He was reliving the last few moments that his eyes had been filled with the sight of Rick Grimes. Bleeding, stumbling, looking Daryl in the eye with a nod to say goodbye. The image came to him often. He was forever haunted by it.

“Come on, Daryl. I tell you what I’m thinking about all the time.”

“Yeah, maybe you should stop,” Daryl teased with a forced grin.

“Oh, you love hearing about my parental woes. Did you know I got in trouble for hugging Gracie in front of Judith and RJ the other day? Apparently it’s not cool to love your dad.”

Daryl chuckled, but his mind was caught on the mention of RJ. The last piece of Rick. And he remembered watching the man holding Judith for the very first time at the prison. God, so long ago. They’d both been so young. He’d been in love with Rick since the very beginning and not even death has broken that spell. He still loved Rick. Every goddamn minute of every goddamn day. 

Daryl looked over at his friend. He knew he was too often self-consumed and tried to remember that a lot was going on with Aaron, too.

“How’ve you been doing since...since Jesus?”

Aaron looked at the horizon as he answered. “I’m gonna be okay. We all will. I’ll miss him, though. He was a good friend, a good listener, and a good shoulder to cry on.”

“More than that, wasn’t he?” Daryl asked, honestly surprised at the lack of the word love in his answer.

Aaron looked at him with a faint smile and shook his head. “We weren’t together. We were just friends.”

Just friends? That couldn’t be right.

“I mean you’re both gay and good looking and ya got along great. How could it not turn into something more?”

Aaron picked at a tear in his jeans, not answering. “I’ve been waiting on something else.”

“Waiting on what?” Daryl asked.

Aaron glanced back over to Daryl. “You. Been waiting for you to get past Rick. But I honestly don’t know if that will ever happen.”

Daryl was stunned. How long had Aaron been waiting on him? 

“I’m...I...I’m never going to be over him.”

“I know.”

“But he’s not here anymore,” Daryl added.

Aaron looked up, hopeful. Eyes shining. He had been every bit the friend that Rick had. He was just as loyal. He was handsome and funny and most importantly he was here. He was here and Rick was gone.

He’d given Aaron second thoughts before, but always felt guilty for the urges -- like he was somehow cheating on Rick. But, Daryl reminded himself again, Rick was gone. He was gone.

“I’d love to love you, Daryl,” Aaron whispered.

Crickets had started chirping, welcoming the night, and Daryl leaned towards Aaron and kissed him. Innocent and chaste. Experimental and curious.

When he pulled back, Aaron kept his eyes closed. “Please,” he whispered and Daryl came back in for a more active kiss, lips plucking against lips, tongues sliding along tongues, teeth nibbling, and Daryl felt his heart beating faster in his chest. To feel someone want him warmed him to his core. He felt like he was on fire as Aaron’s fingers trailed along his cheek and his arm.

When they parted, Aaron’s eyes were blown, wide and dark. “I’m sorry I’m not Rick,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. You’re Aaron. And I care about you, too. We’ve been through a lot, and you’re a good friend. And you’re...kind and sweet and…”

“Come to my room with me?” Aaron asked, breathless.

Daryl kissed the other man one more time. “Yes.”

Once in Aaron’s room, they fell into his bed with enthusiasm, hands exploring, button’s popping and clothes tearing. 

_Rick_ , Daryl thought as he felt the warm body move above him. _I’ll always love you. But I’m here and I’m alone and I need...I need to love someone. Without love, what’s there to live for?_

He felt Aaron kiss his way from his ear to his throat. His lips were warm and tender and the trail of damp kisses he left was like a fireline spreading down Daryl’s trembling body. Aaron kissed down to a nipple and sucked and nibbled at it playfully. Daryl groaned in pleasure. He’d always known that his nipples were a huge erogenous zone.

“Aaron,” Daryl murmured. “You feel so fucking good.”

At that, Aaron slid a hand down between Daryl’s legs, cupping at his balls. They kept their eyes on one another as he pushed Daryl’s legs up and back, giving himself access to the other man’s entrance.

“Fuck me,” Daryl moaned, his voice desperate and eager. 

Aaron reached over to his nightstand and pulled out some lube, coating his fingers generously. He started by using his fingers, slow and steady.

“Ain’t a flower, Aaron. I ain’t gonna break. Just fuck me. I want to _feel_ you.”

Aaron obeyed, dropping the bottle, lifting up and lining his cock up with Daryl’s waiting hole. “I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Aaron said.

“It should have happened a thousand times already,” Daryl admitted. “If I didn’t have my damn head in the sand. I want you, Aaron. I’ve...I’ve wanted you for a while now.”

Aaron pressed slowly into the other man, pausing at every gasp. Daryl let his hands roam Aaron’s chest; covered with just enough hair to be manly. The archer’s eyes rolled back in his head once Aaron was fully seated. He took his own cock in hand as Aaron started to move.

“You feel so good...so good,” Aaron murmured as he pumped in and out slowly. Their bodies found a rhythm, foreheads against one another as Aaron angled himself in just the right way. 

“Fuck,” Daryl gasped as he felt his prostate brushed by the thick, hard cock inside him. “I’m gonna come,” he said as he worked his hand harder on his own cock.

“I wanna watch you fall apart, Daryl. Come for me.”

And that was all it took for Daryl to orgasm hard, his ass squeezing Aaron in a mighty grip making Aaron come apart at the same time.

Panting and with a sheen of sweat covering the both of them, they pulled apart and collapsed on the bed, looking over at one another.

“I want you, Daryl. More than just tonight.”

“You have me. You’ve probably had me longer than either of us realizes.”

Later, when Daryl walked outside for a cigarette, he looked back up to the night sky as a star twinkled brighter in the darkness. “You’ll always have a place in my heart, Rick,” he whispered. “But thank you for letting me go.”

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, writing Daryl with someone else felt like cheating!


End file.
